Worst Prefecture In Japan

[IkemenTommy]

[Buraku]

Nagaoka - avoid it, drug addicts in the street, it has been hit hard by economic stagnation, hotels have no running water or are virtually deserted, unemployment is at 10%, there are many homeless and Nippon Seiki is going down

[AssKissinger]

Not only the worst in Japan but one of the worst in the world:

Aichi

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

Aichi the ass of Japan with Nagoya it's dirty black boil

[Mulboyne]

After all, it is also known throughout as daSaitama (dasai : out of fashion).

I don't recommend using the "daSaitama" joke these days. That was Tokoro Joji's line (he's from Saitama - Tokoro comes from Tokorozawa). People seem to roll their eyes in a "that's soooo yesterday" fashion if you bring it out now. Saitama hasn't changed, of course.

[tidbits]

Not sure about other parts of Aichi but I really don't like the city of Nagoya.

[djgizmoe]

Nagaoka - avoid it, drug addicts in the street, it has been hit hard by economic stagnation, hotels have no running water or are virtually deserted, unemployment is at 10%, there are many homeless and Nippon Seiki is going down

Alright I know Aichi bashing is always in vogue (my in-laws live in Isshiki-cho, coastal concrete inaka of the worst kind), but Okazaki, Gamagori and even Nagoya ain't all that bad]http://www.ichigomelon.com/profile.html[/url]
http://www.acidmothers.com/


Plus, the economy there actually seems pretty good.
http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=149005

From what I've seen, Ibaraki and Mie are in a tie for equally offensive rusting industrial armpits...

[IkemenTommy]

Not only the worst in Japan but one of the worst in the world:

Aichi

Yeah, Aichi was a close second when I was posting.
Miso katsu, Tebasaki.. ooooh.. BFD! And who gives a F about Aichi's Toyota HQ?

Not sure about other parts of Aichi but I really don't like the city of Nagoya.

I wish if the shinkansen doesn't stop at that shitty station Nagoya every time and just pass straight through it.
I know a lot of FGs are from there but seriously, Aichi lacks culture and identity like daSaitma.[/quote]

[IkemenTommy]

I don't recommend using the "daSaitama" joke these days. That was Tokoro Joji's line (he's from Saitama - Tokoro comes from Tokorozawa). People seem to roll their eyes in a "that's soooo yesterday" fashion if you bring it out now. Saitama hasn't changed, of course.

The local Tokyo people say daSaitama and I still get a kick out of it when I hear that.

[dingosatemybaby]

I don't recommend using the "daSaitama" joke these days. That was Tokoro Joji's line (he's from Saitama - Tokoro comes from Tokorozawa). People seem to roll their eyes in a "that's soooo yesterday" fashion if you bring it out now. Saitama hasn't changed, of course.

The local Tokyo people say daSaitama and I still get a kick out of it when I hear that.

Bit of a thread hijack: "DaSaitama" is a bit passe, but it still has some juice in it. What worries me more, though, is the long-since-passed sell-by date of the term "obatarian."
I still use it (is there an alternative?), but get that "oh, look at the sweet, semi-retarded gaijin" look from Japanese.

[omae mona]

Nagaoka - avoid it, drug addicts in the street, it has been hit hard by economic stagnation, hotels have no running water or are virtually deserted, unemployment is at 10%, there are many homeless and Nippon Seiki is going down

Buraku - Nagaoka is a city in Niigata prefecture. Is that what you're talking about? I figured you meant Nagoya but it's not a prefecture either. Not a complaint - just curious about where you're actually talking about. 'Cause I don't wanna go there!!

[homesweethome]

Nagaoka - avoid it, drug addicts in the street, it has been hit hard by economic stagnation, hotels have no running water or are virtually deserted, unemployment is at 10%, there are many homeless and Nippon Seiki is going down

Buraku - Nagaoka is a city in Niigata prefecture. Is that what you're talking about? I figured you meant Nagoya but it's not a prefecture either. Not a complaint - just curious about where you're actually talking about. 'Cause I don't wanna go there!!

Not sure, but if the depleted memory cells serve, Tanaka Shozo made a stand against the Meiji era industialist in Nagaoka in Tochigi Pref. It definately stands as a rust-bucket monument against iron ore mining and the non-environmental consciousness of its time. No place to live and only a tourist attraction now in his memory.

Another possibility is Nagaoka-cho in Saga Pref. Born in poverty, never escaped. Everything there is rust and was from the beginning, drug addicts, suicides, murder, rape, you name it, is a way of life there, always has been, always will be. Nothing monumental there though except the gravestones.

That's my entry in the contest.

[Buraku]

where is it ?

I don't really know if Niigata is terrible
but Nagaoka makes it bad

http://www.city.nagaoka.niigata.jp/english/sos.html
http://tmc.nagaoka.niigata.jp/images/yume/yume102407.jpg

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

Not much in Niigata but it's not that bad. Nagaoka is too small to worry about, at least there's some decent country side around it.

The outer burbs of Nagoya are death on a scale that make Chiba look good. Ugly.

First trip to Ibaraki was last week. The little I saw of Tsukuba seemed like it had some sort of town planning compared to a lot of Japan. Fresh air, easy access to Tokyo now with the express. Probably the next boom housing area if people start making babies. 20 years time it might be a good place for bored teenagers to drop burnoutsall night.

[IkemenTommy]

Chibaraki still has some nature left.
Is it safe to say that Tsukuba has the most PhD per capita in Japan?

[tidbits]

Not sure about other parts of Aichi but I really don't like the city of Nagoya.

I wish if the shinkansen doesn't stop at that shitty station Nagoya every time and just pass straight through it.
I know a lot of FGs are from there but seriously, Aichi lacks culture and identity like daSaitma.

[/quote]

Exactly, lack of cultural..feel like neither here nor there. And just look at the Nagoya station area map, and compared with.. maybe Sapporo, Nagoya station area map looked so chaos. Maybe you guys have better sense of direction but I need a map and a compass to get around the Nagoya city..For exmple,very often the building that I want to go seem to be in my walking direction but the more I walk the building seem to be further and further and I realise the stupid road is not straight!

[dimwit]

An interesting note on this. I read a couple of year ago in survey of Japanese salaryman (sorry I can't find a reference) as to the locations they prefered to be tranfered to. As I recall, Kochi, Okinawa, Hokkaido, and Shiname came out as the least favorite places to be located. Saitama and Aichi were closer to the top of the list.

Personally, I think that just about every prefecture has a good and bad side. Southern Ehime is quite pretty; eastern Ehime is a industrial sewer. Shizuoka borders on Mt. Fuji, but also has armpits like Hamamatsu

[IkemenTommy]

An interesting note on this. I read a couple of year ago in survey of Japanese salaryman (sorry I can't find a reference) as to the locations they prefered to be tranfered to. As I recall, Kochi, Okinawa, Hokkaido, and Shiname came out as the least favorite places to be located. Saitama and Aichi were closer to the top of the list.

I would be first to raise my hand to go to places like Okinawa and Hokkaido (Sapporo at least).

Shizuoka borders on Mt. Fuji, but also has armpits like Hamamatsu

I like Shizuoka a lot especially around Atami and Ito, but you are right about Hamamatsu. I've visited a company called Hamamatsu *hotonics there (cannot disclose the name for privacy reasons) a few times and that shinkansen station is the absolute worst if you ever tried catching a train. There is only one train every hour during daytime and you can only catch the kodama that stops at basically every stop. At times, it could take longer to get back from Hamamatsu than it would take from Nagoya. It is absolute hell trying to get back to Tokyo if you ever had to.

[hakuman]

[Buraku]

The Osaka and Kobe area can be bad, full of garbage, yakuza politics, toxic pollution....
...but the local people are nice ( well a lot better than those Toyko idiots ) and the area has some nice culture

[IkemenTommy]

but only if you are a Tokyo snob.

Ha

[skyengines]

[Oradea]

[hakuman]

I agree, I like Nagoya. I have spent a lot of time there for work too (probably about 3 or 4 months if you added all the days up). Lots of hot chicks, and a fun place to party. Not a lot of tourist attractions, but hey, if you arent a tourist that doesnt really matter. The city is easy to get around and looks quite nice too. And the food is great.

I would much prefer to live in other cities - Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo or Yokohama, but Nagoya is still a pretty decent place.

[Buraku]

Personally, I think that just about every prefecture has a good and bad side. Southern Ehime is quite pretty]http://www.gsest.shizuoka.ac.jp/english/5campuslife/img/eki.jpg[/img]

very good point

[Mike Oxlong]

Gotta defend good ol' Gifu here...spent plenty a good year there. Big enough to have plenty of good restaurants, bars, shopping and services. Small enough to avoid the terrible traffic congestion, overcrowded trains, and air pollution of a major industrial dump...er, center.

Nagoya's close enough to use n' abuse, yet far enough away to ignore the rest of the time. Great proximity to Kyoto for sightseeing. Close to the mountains for ski, onsen, quaint village festivals. Lots of Brazilians in the area makes for good shopping (Brazilian shops kick some sweet Rio ass!), and good parties. Enough FGs to make for some wild times, yet few enough that you can fantasize you are the only FG around when yer havin' a Last Samurai kinda day.

Central to the entire country when ya got the old wanderlust, nice enough to settle down and relax in when you wanna be a homebody.

[Tsuru]

Nah... I have to concur with some people here about Shizuoka. It's an industrial sh1thole with lots of rusty factories. It's a bit like New Jersey: you can see Manhattan from there but the only thing a sane person will ever do there is drive through it on his way to Philadelphia or DC. So the only good thing about Sleezuoka I can think of is the Tomei expressway.

I was going for Gifu as well but then I realised that Takayama is in Gifu. So I have to say it's not so bad once you travel a little more up north... just take the JR Takayama line in spring and be awed by the beautiful gorge the (diesel powered) train runs through with the tea plantations and nicely kept houses in the occasional valley. And then Takayama in itself is a pretty fantastic place to go for the weekend.
Yes, when you're only used to the part of Gifu that borders on Aichi, I'm not surprised you'd vote it for worst prefecture. The only good things I can think of about that place are Kawasaki Aerospace and Gifu AB

About Aichi: well, as my girl is from here I'm pretty biased but I guess Nagoya is not so bad. And when you go outside of the city there are some pretty good festivals to be had (although insanely crowded) and Atsumi peninsula with its great beaches and nature allows for some good mountainbiking, BBQ-ing and outdoor binge-drinking.

[IkemenTommy]

Gifu is not too bad. It's a little "inaka" for the most part but it's got nice ski slopes around this time of the year.

[Greener]

Aside from the nice scenery, Kagoshima is pretty brutal. The locals aren't very nice and the area is just badly underdeveloped. More like Taiwan than Japan.

[chiwawa]

Hi, I'm chiwawa. Do you remember me? It's been a long time hasn't it? I'm still studying in America so gradually English is coming to me.

I would have to say that Osaka is the worst prefecture in Japan. It is not trendy like Tokyo.